


And it felt like maybe we could last forever

by trilliastra



Series: Tumblr Fics [64]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Misunderstandings, Post-Break Up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2017-08-20
Packaged: 2018-12-17 09:43:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11848962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trilliastra/pseuds/trilliastra
Summary: The wait takes longer than a second and Stiles kind of wishes he had remembered to grab his phone before his dad manhandled him inside the car. As it is he walks around the room, looking for stuff to distract him but won’t cause any more damage. See, dad? He can be responsible.He’s reading a pamphlet about gonorrhea when the doctor finally shows up. “Sorry.” He apologizes. “We had an emergency with a kid. So you hurt your finger?”Ah, shit. This cannot be happening.When Derek looks up and recognizes him, Stiles shakes his head and says, “ah, shit.”





	And it felt like maybe we could last forever

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the prompt: "7. Is that blood?” “No?” “That’s not a question you’re supposed to answer with another question.”"

Stiles knows many things, some useful other not so much, but what he doesn’t know is how to properly use a hammer. Now, one might say if you don’t know how to use a hammer, then don’t try to use it, but Stiles is stubborn and – as his dad sometimes points out – a little stupid.

“Ah, shit.” Stiles yells, dropping the hammer on his desk. Great, now he has a scratch on his desk and a broken finger.

“Stiles, what is –” his dad shows up at the door, the burger he’s supposed to be grilling for dinner in his hand, “fucking hell, is that blood?”

Stiles bites at his lip to hold back another curse. Damn, it hurts. “No?”

His dad strides into the room, glaring between Stiles and the desk. “That’s not a question you’re supposed to answer with another question.” He sighs, inspects Stiles’ hand. “Come on, I’ll drive you to the hospital.”

Stiles sighs too. Yeah, maybe he’s more than a  _little_  stupid.

–

Melissa doesn’t laugh when Stiles shows up at the hospital and shows her his bloodied finger, but her lips curl up and she gives his dad an exasperated sigh before guiding Stiles to the emergency room. “Do I get a lollipop after this?” He asks her, barely suppressing a whimper when she begins to wipe the blood.

She doesn’t answer, cuffs him on the back of the head instead and tells him the doctor will be there in a second to stitch him up. “Don’t try to hurt the other finger!” She says, turning around.

Stiles glares at her retreating back and makes a mental note to call Scott and tell him his mother is mean.

The wait takes longer than a second and Stiles kind of wishes he had remembered to grab his phone before his dad manhandled him inside the car. As it is he walks around the room, looking for stuff to distract him but won’t cause any more damage. See, dad? He  _can_  be responsible.

He’s reading a pamphlet about gonorrhea when the doctor finally shows up. “Sorry.” He apologizes. “We had an emergency with a kid. So you hurt your finger?”

Ah,  _shit._  This cannot be happening.

When Derek looks up and recognizes him, Stiles shakes his head and says, “ah, shit.”

–

The thing is – Stiles wasn’t supposed to be living with his dad after college. He had plans, big and beautiful plans. He was going to ask his boyfriend to move in with him, they’d get an apartment together and then some years later a house for the kids. They’d get married and live happily ever after with each other.

And then one morning, his boyfriend was gone, taking Stiles’ plans and his heart with him.

“I didn’t know you were living here.” Derek says, still standing on the same spot near the door.

“Moved back.” Stiles mumbles. “You too?”

“Yeah.” Derek says. “I’m finishing my residency.”

“That’s nice.” Stiles says and means it. Derek always wanted to be a doctor and Stiles agrees that he’s amazing at it. “And I’d love to hear more about it but I’m kind of still bleeding here.”

Derek’s eyes widen as if he’d forgotten where they were. “Oh, right.” He moves quickly to take a look at Stiles’ finger and Stiles has to restrain himself from flinching away when Derek touches his hand. “Can you move it?”

“Yeah,” Stiles says, gritting his teeth when Derek touches the cut, “but it hurts like a motherfucker.”

Derek snorts. Stiles wishes he wasn’t looking down, he always liked Derek’s smile. “I will give you something for the pain, if you want.”

“That’d be good.” Stiles says and tries not to think about all the times Derek took care of him when he was sick.

It’s been six months and it still hurts.

He watches Derek working, face focused and hands steady, like he’s done this a million times. And he probably has, Stiles wouldn’t know, but  _God_ , he wishes he did.

“There.” Derek says as he finishes dressing the wound. “Try to keep it dry and change the dressing twice a day.” He keeps saying, his back turned to Stiles as he disposes of the gloves and the bloodied cotton. “You can come back in two or three weeks to –”

“Why?” Stiles blurts out. “You owe me at least an answer.”

He watches Derek’s back stiffen, braces himself for the words even though he still doesn’t feel ready for the truth. If Derek found someone else he – doesn’t know how he’s going to react.

“ _I_ owe you?” Derek asks. He turns around, stares at Stiles angrily. “How about you tell me why you were pulling away? Why you weren’t telling me where you were going every other morning? Why you were  _lying_  to me?”

“What?” Stiles stands up, narrowing his eyes at him. “I was looking for a job!”

“See?” Derek gestures at him. “You can’t even tell me the truth  _now_!”

“What the fuck?” Stiles shakes his head, realizes he’s screaming at a hospital but he really can’t stop. Derek can’t be twisting this around to blame  _him_. Stiles wasn’t the one who walked away in the middle of the night with the only explanation being a note saying ’ _live your life’_. “Why did that bother you so much? Why did you fucking walk away instead of talking to me about that?”

“I tried!” Derek says back. “But you kept saying you needed more time to tell me, that it would ‘make sense later’.” Derek snorts, humorless. “And you know what? It  _did_  make sense later when I saw you getting out of that apartment downtown with a woman.” Stiles blinks, tries to remember what the hell Derek is talking about. “You wanted an out so I gave you an out.” Derek says. “Are you enjoying it with her?”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Stiles yells, reaches out for an unused bag of cotton and throws it at Derek’s perfect face, he bats it away easily but Stiles still feels a sense of victory when Derek’s eyes widen comically at his outburst. “I was looking for an apartment to live with you!” He says, stalking towards Derek and punching his chest with his non-injured hand. “The one I was going to tell you about on our anniversary dinner.” Derek opens his mouth and Stiles can hear a soft ’ _oh’_  escaping his lips. “Yeah, remember that one? No, because you didn’t  _show up_!”

“I was studying!”

“I know!” Stiles groans, frustrated. It’s not about  _that_. “And I admired you for that! But you can’t accuse me of cheating on you just because I wasn’t around much when you were doing the  _exact same thing_!”

Derek takes a step back, expression dazed, like Stiles had just punched him in that beautiful stupid face. “I didn’t –”

“What? You didn’t think about it?” Stiles cuts, anger finally starting to subside and being replace with hurt. Derek really didn’t trust him, huh? “Or you just didn’t trust me?” When Derek’s about to answer, Stiles shakes his head. “No, forget it.” It’s too late now. Too  _much_. “I thought we felt the same, but apparently I was wrong.” And damn, that makes his heart ache even more. Stiles poured his everything into their relationship, but Derek didn’t even trust him enough to start a conversation. To try to fix things. “Thanks for the finger.” Stiles turns around but realizes he can’t go without saying everything he has to. “I really loved you, you know?” He closes his eyes when he feels about to cry. “I still do.” He whispers to himself and finally,  _finally_ , walks away.

–

His dad doesn’t ask what happened, only looks at him curiously and drives them home. When they walk into the house, Stiles immediately pulls him into a hug and just lets himself feel the comfort of being with family. “Is everything okay?” His dad finally asks, patting his back affectionately.

“No.” Stiles answers. “But it will be. Just –” he doesn’t finish, but his dad understands anyway and tightens his hold, letting Stiles cry on his shoulder.

–

Stiles is dozing off on the couch when the doorbell rings. Years of being a cop’s kid make him stand up immediately, only to relax when he sees his dad walking down the stairs.

“What the –” he says, opening the door cautiously, “fucking hell, kid. Do you know what time is it?” He doesn’t wait for the person to answer, just turns to Stiles and says “you deal with this, I’ll go back to bed”, pats Stiles’ shoulder in a way that says he definitely won’t be sleeping any time soon and walks back to his room.

When Stiles takes a look outside and sees Derek standing at the door, looking completely  _devastated,_ he wonders if it’s too late to go back to sleep.

–

“I was scared.” Derek says as soon as Stiles closes the door behind them. “I’ve always been scared.”

“Of what?”

“Of losing  _you_.” He answers, turning to Stiles with wet eyes. “I’m – I’m not good enough. I’ve never been – worthy of you.”

“What the fuck?” Stiles rolls his eyes, taking Derek’s shirt and slamming him against the door. “Am I some fucking princess? You don’t get to decide who’s good for me!  _I do!”_

“But that’s the thing!” Derek says, slumping against the door. “I thought you did! I thought you decided I wasn’t good enough! And you were preparing me for the end.” He closes his eyes, taking deep breaths. Stiles watches him try to calm himself down and waits, angry, confused. “You were pulling away, talking more about your friends, about going on vacations, wanting to climb a mountain. I’m – I’m not like  _that_. I never was. I just thought – that was the end, you know? That was the limit of where we could go together.”

Stiles feels himself breaking and lets go of Derek’s shirt only to slump against his chest. “You idiot.” He whimpers. “I’m sorry. I’m  _so_ sorry.” He whispers, feels the tears beginning to drop. He can’t believe he’s the cause of this, the cause of Derek’s suffering, of his  _own_  suffering. He can’t believe he let Derek think he wasn’t good enough, even though he  _is_. He is everything. “I didn’t – I never –”

“I’m sorry too.” Derek says, arms circling Stiles’ waist and pulling him closer. “I should have talked to you. I should’ve tried harder.”

“We both should.” Stiles says, hears a sniff and realizes they are both crying. God, what a fucking mess they made. “You’re more than enough. You – I love  _you_. I’ve never loved anyone else.”

“Me neither.” Derek answers. “I love you so much, it hurts me. I want to keep you forever. And losing you, I can’t –”

“You didn’t.” Stiles touches Derek’s hair, holds onto his shoulders because he can’t trust his legs anymore. “You won’t.”

“We’ll be together?”

“Yes,” Stiles laughs, cries,  _breathes_ for the first time in months, “together.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm always taking prompts so you can find me on my [tumblr](http://www.brookesbutler.tumblr.com)!


End file.
